1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a drag board for use in a coil processing line for tensioning or wiping a continuous line of strip material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Throughout various industries there are used continuous processes for handling coiled material, such as steel, paper, paper by-products, plastics, plastic by-products, aluminum, or other metal products. As part of these processes drag boards, known also as drag wipes, are used to produce tension in the strip to assist in recoiling it or to wipe or otherwise clean the surface of the metal strip.
Most of the drag boards use a wooden substrate to which is attached a contact pad of felt, carpet, abrasive, or other media. The contact pad is secured to the substrate by nailing or stapling, or it may be held by a hook and loop attachment layer secured to the substrate. U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,577 discloses a drag board having a wooden substrate with a hook and loop layer arrangement attached to a protective layer secured to the substrate. A felt contact pad is secured to the hook and loop layer.
There are problems inherent in the existing drag board-contact pad arrangements. Securing contact pads by nailing, stapling, or screwing results in deteriorating of the substrate. The holes formed by the securing members allow oil which is part of the working environment to seep into the interior of the boards and eventual destruction of the boards. Repeated use of the hook and loop arrangement in replacing contact pads results in deteriorating of the heads of the hooks rendering the system ineffective necessitating removal and replacement of the adhering layer. It has also been known that the protective layers, such as lucite, of the hook and loop drag board arrangements have shattered in low temperature environments necessitating replacement. Replacing the layers of the hook and loop drag board arrangements cannot be readily done at the coil processing site. The drag boards are returned to a plant for time consuming and expensive refurbishing and re-laminating. Certain of the hook and loop adhering layers cannot be refurbished or re-laminated and may only be discarded and replaced at significant expense.
Thus, the problems of the known and used drag board-contact pad arrangements are time-consuming, expensive pad replacement, and substrate deterioration because of the holes formed in the substrate by the securing members.
The present invention overcomes the problems inherent in existing drag board-contact pad arrangements, by providing a simple and effective drag board assembly and method of applying a contact pad to a drag board. The assembly is configured to allow efficient and effective on-site replacement of any of its parts without need of special tools while at the same time insuring the integrity of the substrate in preventing deterioration.
The present invention provides a drag board assembly and method for applying a contact pad to a drag board, the assembly, in its preferred form, including an elongated substrate with its leading edge section constructed and arranged for receiving one edge section or leading edge section of a contact pad. Locking means are provided for engaging the one edge section of the contact pad for selectively securing and releasing the contact pad whereby replacement of a worn pad is simply effected by releasing it from its attachment and a new pad emplaced on the substrate and secured. This invention allows for a direct, simple, efficient, and cost effective contact pad attachment to a substrate of a drag board assembly.
The drag board assembly and method of applying a contact pad to a substrate is useable in any continuous processes for handling coiled material such as steel, paper, paper by-products, plastics, plastic by-products, aluminum, or other metal products. Typical of these processes is slitting with this invention being useable in other processes such as pickling, galvanizing, leveling, and others. The contact pads may be felt, carpeting, or abrasive material. The substrate to which the contact pad is attached may be wood, plastic or plastic derivative, polyurethane, metal or any combination of these materials. The drag board assemblies when used in slitting processes are part of a tension device used to create back pressure to achieve a tight rewind of a recoiling of the slit sheet sections. Tension stands or similar devices are also used to absorb oils from the surface of steel or other products, as well as wick oil or other chemicals on the slit product. Abrasive materials may be used with the drag boards of tension stands for removing rust on secondary or damaged flat rolled steel.
A specific form of the drag board assembly uses a horizontally oriented or specifically shaped steel bar, tube or rod arranged at the leading edge section of the substrate which is configured to snugly receive at least the rear end portion of the tube or rod. A locking rod formed with serrations or protuberance similar to a dull saw blade is secured to the rear end section of the tube or rod which is operably connected with a mechanical pneumatic, or hydraulic power source. The leading edge section of a contact pad is emplaced in between the tube or rod and the interior of the leading edge section of the substrate. The power source is activated to cause the tube or rod and the locking bar to be moved into the confines of the leading edge section of the substrate to engage the leading edge portion of the contact pad and firmly secure it in place to the substrate. The contact pad, securely attached to the substrate, extends over the working surface of the substrate so that it is virtually impossible for any strip material passing over the pad to dislodge it from the substrate of the drag board.
Some of the advantages of the drag board apparatus and method of applying a contact pad to the present invention are positive, quick, and effective, installation of a contact pad on a drag board substrate, on-site replacement of a contact pad, ease of maintenance, no need of special tools for installing a contact pad, and no-need of a back-up drag board while a contact pad is being installed on a substrate. The present invention does not necessitate forming holes from the working surface of the substrate, reducing any deterioration effect of oils and such like on the substrate thereby increasing the useful life of the substrate.
The basic structure of the drag board apparatus of the present invention is simple in construction, relatively inexpensive to produce, and uncomplicated and efficient in its use. The apparatus is modifiable in various ways, for example, in the material used for the substrate, the type of power drive for the locking system, and the type of material used for the contact pad.
Various other advantages, details, and modifications of the present invention will become apparent as the following descriptions of a certain present preferred embodiment and certain present preferred method of practicing the invention proceed.